For this week’s election update, we focus on the candidates who won Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary and the implications it has on the election.
Bernie Sanders wins Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary.
Sanders won his sixth contest in a row on Tuesday, signalling possible momentum going forward. Though Sanders has won multiple states in the past several primaries, many of these states are heavily Caucasian, showing that his support among minority voters is lacking. The true test lays in New York, Sanders’ birth state. Clinton has an 11-point lead over Sanders, but the momentum after this victory and his expected victory in Wyoming could catapult him ahead during New York’s primary.
Ted Cruz wins Wisconsin Republican presidential primary.
Though Cruz was expected to win, his victory is a big deal because of how big the margin was. He had a double-digit lead over Donald Trump, who fell silent on his various social media accounts. The next day, Trump went on a sore-loser tirade, calling Cruz “worse than a puppet” and ranting about how Republicans only support Cruz because they don’t want to support Trump’s candidacy. Democrats are capitalizing on his reaction, coining the phrase “Trumper-tantrum.” In the past few weeks, Trump has been tanking in the polls faster than ever, indicating the possible beginning of the end of his campaign.
Trump and Cruz are trying to stop John Kasich from reaching the convention.
Kasich has a plan to become president, and it involves taking away enough delegates from Trump and Cruz so that an open convention occurs. It could work in theory, should Trump or Cruz not gain the necessary 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. The only thing that stands in the way of Kasich is a rule saying that candidates must have a majority of delegates in at least eight states to be considered for nomination at an open convention. A group of delegates make up the Rules Committee, which can change the rule or keep it as it is. Cruz and Trump obviously want the rule to stay in place, but it could be lifted, giving Kasich an opportunity to steal the nomination.
Opinion editor Anthony Torres is a political science junior and may be reached at [email protected]
Kasich is a demonstration that the GOP Establishment is desperate for a brokered convention.
And despite Sanders win Clinton will be the SocDem Establishments nominee.